Sep 05, 2012 - 11:00am

The announcement today that the Government would not be proceeding with its contracts for closure reinforces the need for early policies to support the pricing and limits in the carbon laws and for the funds to be quarantined, said The Climate Institute.

“The failure of industry and Government to conclude contracts for closure negotiations is regrettable but shouldn’t just be left there,” said John Connor, CEO of The Climate Institute. “Today’s news reinforces the need that we have always outlined for supporting policies to the carbon law’s prices and limits - policies on energy efficiency, power station emissions and renewable energy.”

“We should accelerate the consultation on and implementation of a national Energy Savings Initiative to drive a step change in Australia’s tardy energy efficiency efforts.”

“The Government should reinstate its election commitment to clean energy performance standards for power stations and the work of the bipartisan supported renewable energy legislation should be unhindered.”

Connor added: “The carbon price and limits in the legislation were a significant achievement in providing a platform to both help international efforts to reduce carbon pollution and to start the transformation of Australia’s high carbon economy. Supporting policies were always needed to ensure the long-term task of domestic action is as timely and cost effective as possible.”

“In addition, the Government should quarantine any funds committed from 2016 and make them solely available for climate related matters such as further clean energy support, emissions reductions, or financing for developing countries that can help boost global ambition and action.”

“This would be in the hundreds of millions at least and the Government should now reveal the amount it had on the table.”

“Finally the failure of these negotiations shows the challenges for direct action style initiatives, such as the Coalition’s, which take a lump of money to industry and seek their commitment.”

“This is a moment for all to reflect on the Coalition’s policies when these negotiations fail even with the backing of a carbon price.”